A paddleboarder has managed to keep her cool while having a hammerhead shark tailing behind her during a long race.

Malea Tribble, from Fort Lauderdale in Florida, had a curious marine animal following her mid-way during a paddleboarding race.

The two-timed paddler joined the charity event, The Crossing For Cysteic Fibrosis, to cross from the Bahamas on a 85-mile journey to the destination, Lake Worth Beach, Florida.

READ MORE: Horde of 50 sharks filmed tearing humpback whale to shreds in feeding frenzy

Her husband, Ricky, was on a boat her safety during the race when he noticed a "tall dorsal fin" following closely behind Malea.

Malea Tribble was crossing the Gulf Stream from the Bahams to Florida when her boat spotted a shark behind her paddleboard (Image: crossingforcf/Instagram)

Posting what the team saw on the organiser's Instagram page, Ricky is seen calling his wife to come gently to the boat.

"Malea, come to the side. You are doing good," he gives instructions to Malea, who is curious to know what's swimming behind her board.

"It's hard to tell. Keep coming. Sit down."

Ricky then turns to call her paddling partner, Gabe, to also stay in his position and reduce movement on the water.

They pan the camera to the water, which shows a light grey shadow below the water surface.

The shark went as close as to under Malea's paddleboard (Image: crossingforcf/Instagram)

Malea signals him with a gesture, hinting it's a "shark circling around".

"It's a hammerhead," she realises.

Ricky and a friend tell her that the shark has been following her, adding: "Its head was right underneath your board. I think it's crazy."

Malea says: "I don't think it's gone but I think it went that way [further behind Gabe]."

The shark went circling their relay partner, Gabe, not far from the safety boat (Image: crossingforcf/Instagram)

They all agree to "stay close to the boat now" before they stop filming.

The Crossing For Cystic Fibrosis shared the video and confirmed they all got to the boat safely without incident.

"Their team was almost halfway across the Gulf Stream, out of sight of land, when the shark appeared," they explained.

"Ricky was able to calmly give his wife direction on maneuvering the situation to get safely to the boat without incident.

Both of them got back to the boat without any incident and the shark swam away (Image: crossingforcf/Instagram)

"Both Ricky and Malea are experienced paddlers and official mentors with The Crossing For CF community."

Founder and Executive Director of The Crossing For CF event, Travis Suit, reflected on the situation, saying: "We are grateful Malea was not harmed and so proud of the calm and disciplined response the Tribble’s had during the situation as paddle mentors in this event, providing a great example of how to handle close encounters like this.

"We are visitors when we are in the ocean, it’s really their home, so it’s to be expected."

For more shocking stories from the Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here